In-flight entertainment systems (IFE systems) in civilian aircraft, but also other systems, e.g. in current and future civil and military platforms, demand communication architectures with an ever higher data bandwidth and an ever greater number of network nodes, with a low failure rate and low latency. These requirements often lead to complex wiring with a multiplicity of required plug connections and data lines, e.g. in the case of a star architecture. Disadvantages arise here due to the associated high weight, the high installation outlay and the low adaptability.
Classic star architectures in particular entail a high wiring outlay, which should be avoided by means of daisy chain architectures or ring architectures. However, these architectures have high latency as a disadvantage, such as the HSR (high-availability seamless redundancy) standard.
There may be a need for a network interface, which allows a reduction of latency during the transmission of data in a network. Furthermore, there may be a need for a network with network users, which comprise the network interface, which network has a high reliability and low latency at the same time as a low wiring outlay. Furthermore, there may be a need for methods for the reliable data transmission within this network with low latency—even in the event of the presence of a defect inside the network.